


ghosts don't notice

by Anonymous



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Drabble, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, ghostinnit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tubbo wakes up one morning, and his compass is broken.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 633
Collections: anonymous





	ghosts don't notice

**Author's Note:**

> hi ya'll. i am as nervous as fuck to upload this tbh. i rarely interact with this fandom at all and i have severe social anxiety, so this is a big leap for me.
> 
> i hope you all enjoy the angst. yes, i'm suffering too. god help anyone who gets attached to a series where the main crux of the series is a man making two children do drug related child labor.

Tubbo wasn’t even sure how it happened, or, _rather_ , when it did. He had just woken up from his bedroom and took out his special compass from his Enderchest, like he was doing every morning now.

_‘Your Tommy’,_ is what Wil--er, _Ghostbur_ called it, and it was very sentimental to him. Tubbo still wasn’t sure just how he made it, and he vowed to take good care of it and to always keep it on him. With the exception of placing it in his Enderchest every night.

Now, the special compass--which normally illuminated a soft purple glow, now had a crack in it. A large one that went right across the middle of the arrow. Tubbo let out an exasperated huff as his pupils flickered over the crack several times. He rubbed his thumb against it once, twice, three times, as if it were just a smudge on the glass that needed to be wiped.

The strangest part of it all was that the arrow was still moving, but it was spinning in all different directions. What had happened to it, it just hadn’t made any sense at all…

Still, Tubbo couldn’t find himself throwing it away. It was still a gift, after all, a gift from his ex-president. It would be rude to throw it away, and it might break his heart if he told him it somehow ended up broken. Ah, if, ghosts have hearts, anyways…

  
He sighed, getting up to put his suit back on…

  
  


**-**

Seeing Dream walking around the streets of L’manburg without any armor on had become pretty normal for Tubbo at this point, even if it was still a bit of a culture shock. He tried not to think about how things were before he was President. 

_Bad, bad memories…_

He could see him now in his usual green robes, mask pulled only slightly up his face to see a friendly smile as he walked over, tall figure raising a hand to wave at him. “Hey, Tubbo. Morning.” He greeted, casually.

Tubbo put on a brave face, casually brushing off the memories of the past. “Dream, hi! Hello. It’s so good to see you again.” He glanced back down, beaming at Dream’s overall appearance. “And without the armor, look at you, old, law-abiding citizen.” He laughed at his own remark. Just a timber of nervousness to the laugh, but barely noticeable.

Dream laughed at it, at least, easing some of the tension off him. “Of course, it’s only fair to show some respect to the president, after all.” He looked up over to the sun that was slowly rising into the sky with a hum. 

Although he was about to remark, Tubbo saw something in the corner of his prevail vision that gave him pause. He could see something faint hanging off of Dream’s belt, in one of his bags. Something small, faint and... _blue_.

“Oh!” Tubbo said, pointing out a finger to it, making Dream stop in his step. “Has Ghostbur visited you recently? You have some blue, I see!” He smiled, tilting his head to the side inquisitively.  
  
Dream raised his arms slightly, looking down at the small, cottony thing that stuck out from his satchel, as if he had forgotten it was even there. “Oh,” He said, loosening the string on the bag to pull it out, hanging in front of his face. It slightly glimmered in the light of the sun. “I forgot this was even here. Yeah, I did see him, actually. He’s been giving these out, like they’re, uh…”

“Like they’re candy?” Tubbo suggested, with a slight chuckle vibrating in the back of his throat.

“Hah,” Dream laughed at the suggestion. “yeah, sure, candy. He’s been in a good mood, lately. Dunno why, but.” He pauses to shrug, throwing the ‘blue’ over to Tubbo, making him stutter in his step to reach over to catch it. “Better then what he used to be like, right?”  
  
Tubbo looked down at the small cottony material in his hands, surprised he had managed to catch it before it fell. His voice cracked a bit as he heard how carelessly Dream had said that, but managed to just pass it off as a laugh. “Yeaaah...right…’course…” He stood back up right, putting the blue in his pocket. “I’ll...go visit him now, then! You have a lovely day, Dream.”

Instead of saying anything in response, Dream just merely outstretched a hand and waved at him, continuing aimlessly down the path. The sun was getting close to fully in the sky. Tubbo stared up at the sky for a moment as the wind blew through his hair, blinking. 

He hoped the topic of the compass wouldn’t come up…

  
  


**-**

“Tuuubbo! Tubo! Tubby!” Ghostbur called out enthusiastically, outstretching his arms as he looked up from his crafting table with a wide smile, watching Tubbo step down into his home. His voice was just as ghostly and echo-y as ever. It was going to take some adjusting.

A short timber of a laugh escaped Tubbo at the nicknames. “Ghostbur, hey, it’s good to see--”

Suddenly, he was pulled into a _surprisingly_ crushing hug for a ghost, his voice trailing into an exasperated squeak. “Ah, oh!” He laughed, reaching over to pat Ghostbur’s shoulder. He appreciated the hug, really, but he was _cold_.

Ghostbur pulled away, a smile that never quite reached his eyes still present on his face. “Did you like that? I’ve been trying out this new thing where, where I sort of...give everyone hugs! Y’know, cause, cause people like hugs…” He said, hovering over to a nearby barrel on the floor.

Tubbo brushed off the shudder and just continued to smile. “That’s...great! How’s that been...going for you, then?”

“Ah,” Ghostbur paused, holding another potion in his hands. “not well, actually, uh…” The smile cracked a bit. “for some reason, everyone’s been telling me that they don’t like it and they feel like they’re being crushed by...by a, sort of man made of ice.” He seemed to twitch a little as the potion in his hands faltered. “I don’t know why! My sweater is so nice and warm, and...it’s confusing, I guess.”

_'Man made of ice' would be correct._ Tubbo knew he couldn’t say that, though. It would be rude. He was trying not to hurt anyone’s feelings after all he’s done lately. “Aw, really, that’s...that’s a shame, actually--I rather like the hugs! Very nice.” Clearing his throat at the obvious lie. 

“Well, thank you, mister president.” Ghostbur forced a smile as he looked over at him. “Always so loyal and nice.”

  
Tubbo seemed to grit his teeth a bit at the words he chose. Terribly ironic. “Yeaaaah…” He drawled out, it seemed to get even colder in the room. “So, uh…” He looked around the place again, even though he had seen the place so many times before. “How’s everything? You’ve been giving out more blue, I hear?”  
  
At this, Ghostbur clasped his hands together. “Oh, yes! I’ve been making so much more lately, see, cause, I was originally making so many, cause, y’know, Tommy needs them and such, cause he’s just been so sad lately…”

Ah. Made it worse, somehow. Tubbo grimaced a little more, the fake smile he was wearing cracking more. “Y...Yeah?”

His tone became more chipper after that, surprisingly. “But, lately, Tommy’s been sooo much happier lately! So I’ve been making even more for everyone else since he doesn’t need them anymore.” Ghostbur beamed, the smile still never reached his eyes. 

Tubbo stopped in the middle of the room, his eyes meeting one of the brewing stands that sat on a shelf in the corner of the room, although he wasn’t really looking at it, per-say. Just...staring through it. He blinked, pausing and looking over to Ghostbur, as if he had misheard.

“He’s...huh?” Tubbo asked, turning around. “What’d ya mean, happier? He’s...He doesn’t care...about...what happened?” He didn’t know why he felt the need to ask, something pulling at his heartstrings. 

  
Ghostbur just shook his head, tufts of dark grey curls moving with his head. “No, not at all! He’s just generally been so much brighter, lately. Like, have you ever heard that people can like...see other people’s auras?” He asked him, tilting his head towards Tubbo.

“Uuuh…” Looking down at the wooden floors of Ghostbur’s place, he paused, biting at his lower lip. He was still in a bit of shock over his previous statement. He wasn’t quite sure what Ghostbur was getting at, so he simply shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”

Not questioning Tubbo’s overall change in demeanor, Ghostbur continued. “Well, I think as a ghost, I can see people’s emotional auras way more easily! They’re like colors to me...y’know how my blue takes all the blues from you, cause, blue is sad, right?”

“Y-Yeah…?”

“Well, before, Tommy was really, really dark blue.” Ghostbur said, taking out the blue from his pockets, holding both in his hands. They were transparent for the split of a second, but turned blue in Ghostbur’s hands. “Then, it got soooo blue that they turned almost...black? So I was really worried about him, then.” He squeezed the cottony dye in his hands. “Then, I came back one day and it was aaaaall gone! No more blue.”  
  
Tubbo felt his anxiety spiking by the second. 

He didn’t know why. It should be fine--like Ghostbur was telling him, but...something just felt wrong.

“So, uh,” Tubbo asked, feeling the weight of his words as he spoke them. “what...color is he now?”

Inhaling once, Ghostbur seemed like he was about to tell him the answer, yet, he stopped short. The room felt even more cold than before at the lack of an answer, and Ghostbur looked down at the cotton in his hands. He looked back up at Tubbo with a smile.

  
  


“Why don’t I show you?”

**-**

It felt like it had been ages since Tubbo had properly gone into the Nether. He never needed to these days. All the material he could possibly need was already at L’manburg, and if he really needed something, he could just ask someone there.

Although, if he was being honest, he was also just scared. The whole Nether just...frightened him. Especially now as he was walking down a clumsily made path of Obsidian, following a ghost.

Ghostbur hadn’t offered him much explanation after the question Tubbo prodded him with, and merely just invited him to follow him, to lead him to Tommy. 

Truth be told, Tubbo hadn’t really thought it all through. Of course he had gone over here sometimes to watch Tommy from a distance, but...he was still too worried to actually approach and talk to him.

  
However, if what Ghostbur told him was true, and Tommy wasn’t sad anymore, even he shouldn’t be afraid to confront him, right? Tommy simply didn’t care anymore, according to Ghostbur.

“So...uh…” Tubbo started, feeling the heat of the lava below them. He wrapped his fingers around his collar, trying to loosen the tux a bit. Probably should’ve changed. “He just...lives here now?”

“Yup!” Ghostbur replied, lightly hovering off the obsidian path a bit. How Tubbo so badly envied the ability to levitate like him right now. “He loves it out here, Tubbo, it’s so great…”

Tubbo’s heartbeat continued to get louder and louder in his chest, gripping the front of his suit. He swallowed nervously again. “Well, ah, as long as he’s happy…” He muttered, more to himself than to Ghostbur.

Finally, they had reached something that resembled more ‘land’. Nether blocks forming a small ‘island’ shape above the lava, giving some shade. It was still unbearably hot as ever, leading Tubbo to roll up his sleeves some. He looked around, not seeing any kind of architecture.  
  
Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, Ghostbur flew up higher up the Nether blocks. “ _Toooommmyyy?_ ” He called out, looking around. His voice was just as quiet and ghostly as ever, but he was clearly trying. “Tommy, good news, I have a guest! It’s someone you like a looot!”

Tubbo shifted where he stood, feeling like he was glued to the ground as he nervously fiddled his hands together. Why was his heart beating so fast?  
  
“Ah, are you...sure he’s here, Ghostbur, cause…” He looks around, the heat emanating all around him made him feel like he was in a hazy dream. 

“Oh, wait, I see him!” Ghostbur said with glee, looking off into a crevice in the rock formation, somewhat resembling a dark cave. He looked back over at Tubbo and pointed a finger in the air. 

“Wait right here, please.” Without a moment to spare, he flew towards the cave structure. Disappearing into the darkness as a blue glow.

Finally, Tubbo started to pace around in that spot. He was doing his best to calm himself down. He had a few minutes--maybe seconds, to himself now, he had to think of what he would say to Tommy right now. He swallowed, anxiety flooding him as he felt sweat drip down his face. 

A few minutes passed before it hit him. _The compass_ \--sure, it was broken, but, maybe Tubbo could still show him it to at least show some sort of solitary between them. He fiddled around in his pockets for a second, before pulling out the compass and looking down at it. 

Then, he paused for a moment. He squinted at what he saw…

The compass wasn’t spinning anymore, and it was now pointing to his left. 

Tubbo looked, as if expecting Tommy to be standing right there, yet, his frown deepened as he just saw nothing but more nether blocks, and a slight dip. He noticed there was a large hole just a steps or so away from him, something he had dismissed when he came here.

  
Looking over to the cave where Ghostbur entered, Tubbo whipped his head back over to the hole, and then back to the compass. Without much thought, he started to follow it. His steps were slower now, more careful, as if somehow, everything would break apart from this dreamlike state if he wasn’t careful.

He was finally right in front of it now, this crater left in the ground, and saw down was lava beneath him. Tubbo noticed that there was a ladder nailed into the rocks, hanging off and leading down. 

He quirked his eyebrows, and continued to look down at the lava pool below. The compass was telling him that Tommy should be right here, but...there was nothing there. 

It really was broken. He stood up again, clutching it in his hand.

“Tubbo! Look who I found!”

At the sound of Ghostbur’s voice, Tubbo whipped his head back with a smile.

It dropped instantly. 

His heartrate spiked again.

“He was over in his little cave again, just sitting in the dark.” Ghostbur’s laugh felt so punchy in this moment as he laid a hand ontop of ... _his_ head. Tubbo felt an eye twitched as his pupils flickered over to the sight in front of him. The compass dropped from his hands and landed on a nether block.

Golden blonde hair, now tinted grey.

His hair was much like his skin, a pale grey now--but the worst was his face.  
  
  
Oh, god...his face. Tubbo felt the weight planted in his stomach. His heart collapsed as he took a step back. 

_Lava eyes._ Scorched cheeks tinted with ash, a monotonous expression. 

His clothes weren’t tattered like they were the last time he had seen him. This...this was…

  
“T...Tommy?” Tubbo finally found his voice, staring at the small figure besides Ghostbur. His voice cracked, and he found it hard to close his mouth again. The nether had never felt so hazy, so hot in that moment as Tubbo’s brain desperately tried to wrap around what he was looking at, and how much he wanted to look away.  
  
“You remember what I was telling you before, Tubbo?” Ghostbur asked with a smile. How was he so oblivious to what was happening. “About people’s auras, right?”

Tubbo just stuttered at what he said, failing to actually make sense of what he was seeing, although they were right in front of him, just...standing there. Oh god, Tubbo’s hands couldn’t stop shaking as he could only hear his own breathing, mind too cloudy to actually form proper questions. 

“You can see Tommy’s aura now, right?” Ghostbur asked, outstretching a hand to Tommy. “It’s not blue anymore, it’s bright orange.” he said, the oblivious ‘happy’ tone somehow making this situation so, so much worse.

He took another step back, and heard something rattle a bit. Tubbo finally tore his gaze away from the pair, and looked down at the ground. The compass. He saw the arrow was still pointing behind him.  
  
Tubbo turned around again, following the compass’ arrow down the crater...where the lava was. He looked down there and really squinted his eyes, as if he was trying to see something he hadn’t seen before.  
  


His breath hitched as he finally connected the dots, looking over at Tommy’s face.

**Lava eyes.**

Tubbo finally crumbled down at the ground, clutching the Compass in his hands.

  
_‘Your Tommy.’_

**Author's Note:**

> so, to clear anything up:
> 
> \- no, ghostbur didn't kill tommy or anything like that, it was suicide, as implied by the tag.
> 
> \- ghostbur isn't 'uncaring' because he doesn't understand that tommy died. or the nature of how he did.
> 
> \- ghostinnit gang how we feeling
> 
> \- also, dream didn't know anything either.


End file.
